Shrader: Oh Captain, we'll miss you

Published: Thursday, August 14, 2014 at 05:57 PM.

I woke up from a nap Monday and turned to CNN, where they were announcing Robin Williams had died.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a dream. How could this man, who made me laugh for so many years, break my heart?

Even before I knew I could be funny myself, I admired Williams. When I figured out I was funny, I wanted to be funny like he was.

And my God, he was hysterical. I remember watching “Aladdin” and “Good Morning, Vietnam” with my parents, who also fell in love with his humor, and going to see “Dead Poet’s Society” with my mother and aunt.

My earliest memories of him will always be associated with my family. His daughter, Zelda, is the same age I was when my father died; Williams is just three years younger than Dad. A few years later, I saw “Good Will Hunting” with my best friend.

“You have to have really good skin to be in this movie,” I remember my friend saying about halfway through, after watching another of the film’s more intimate scenes.

I woke up from a nap Monday and turned to CNN, where they were announcing Robin Williams had died.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a dream. How could this man, who made me laugh for so many years, break my heart?

Even before I knew I could be funny myself, I admired Williams. When I figured out I was funny, I wanted to be funny like he was.

And my God, he was hysterical. I remember watching “Aladdin” and “Good Morning, Vietnam” with my parents, who also fell in love with his humor, and going to see “Dead Poet’s Society” with my mother and aunt.

My earliest memories of him will always be associated with my family. His daughter, Zelda, is the same age I was when my father died; Williams is just three years younger than Dad.
A few years later, I saw “Good Will Hunting” with my best friend.

“You have to have really good skin to be in this movie,” I remember my friend saying about halfway through, after watching another of the film’s more intimate scenes.

(Yes, a lot of my friends are funny, too. That’s by design.)

I kept up with him more sporadically after that, being sure to tune in whenever he was making guest appearances on any talk shows. What an unscripted ride he’d take the hosts on. The best ever, arguably, was his appearance on “Inside the Actor’s Studio.” Host James Lipton said on an anniversary special for the show the session went on for five hours and one woman in the audience laughed so hard she had to be treated for a hernia.

To learn comedy at the foot of the master like that must be what it’s like for a writer to take a class from Rick Bragg.

It’s hard to believe that that body of work is now over. It will live on for forever on YouTube and in his movies and television, but there won’t be any more chapters added to the book.

He was such a prolific performer, it seemed he’d be around forever.

Williams was a genious. He made us laugh, yes, but he had real acting chops. You don’t get into Juilliard without those. He supported charities and was actively involved in various causes.

And yes, he had personal demons.

He also had three children, family and friends who loved him dearly and knew him better than any of us could ever hope to.

That’s why it breaks my heart that some television commentator named Shepherd Smith called Williams a coward for committing suicide. He later apologized. Perennial political hothead Rush Limbaugh allegedly said Williams died because “leftists are never happy.”

What are people thinking? What makes someone say that? What does any of that have to do with anything?

I hope Limbaugh and Smith don’t ever have anyone in their families suffer from a mental health condition, because they obviously have no clue how to handle it.

And I hope Williams’ family can tune out all the idiots of the world and grieve properly.

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Jennifer Shrader is the managing editor of The Free Press; her column appears in this space every Friday. You can reach her at 252-559-1079 or at Jennifer.Shrader@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter at jenjshrader.